Prevent ads from following you around the web with this iPhone setting

We’ve all had the frightening experience where a brief moment of shopping for shoes online turns into weeks of advertisements for those same shoes on every site you visit. But there is a function on your iPhone which can help you boost your online privacy by giving you the option to easily turn off ad tracking in the apps you use. (To learn more, check out all the new features in the latest iOS 15 Release.)

Apple’s app tracking transparency feature gives you more control over which apps can track you on your iPhone and how. Unless you give an app explicit permission to track you (including ones created by Apple), it can’t use your data for targeted ads, share your location data with advertisers, or share your ad ID. or any other identifier with third parties. This change, first unveiled at Apple Global Developer Conference in June 2020 and rolled out with the iOS 14.5 update – drew support from privacy advocates and reviews of companies such as Facebook, who said he would harm their advertising activity.

The move was accompanied by other efforts by Apple to increase transparency and privacy, which CEO Tim Cook called “fundamental human right. “With the release of iOS 14.3, users began to view the application”nutritional labels“Informing them of the categories of data an app requests before downloading it from the App Store.

Here’s how to use the new Application Tracking Transparency feature to control which apps can track you.

How to turn off app tracking on new apps

When you download and open a new app, you’ll receive a notification asking if you want to allow the app to track your activity on other companies’ apps and websites. You will also see information on what the app would track. You can press Ask the app not to follow block this activity or To allow.

You can also turn off app tracking for each app you download by going to Settings> Privacy> Tracking, and deactivate Allow apps to request tracking. This means that any app that tries to ask for your permission will be automatically blocked and notified that you have requested not to be tracked. And any apps (other than the ones you’ve been allowed to follow in the past) won’t be able to access your device’s information used for advertising purposes, according to Apple.

It is important to note that this does not mean that the ads will go away. It just means that you’ll be more likely to see generic ads, not one for that pair of shoes you clicked once.

How to turn off app tracking on already downloaded apps

For apps that you’ve already downloaded and have tracking permissions set up for, you can still turn those permissions on or off for each app.

Below Settings, tap an app, and then tap to turn off Allow tracking. Or go to Settings> Privacy> Tracking, and tap to enable or disable each app you will see in the list of apps that have requested permission to track your activity.

All app developers are required to request tracking permission. If Apple learns that a developer is tracking users who have requested not to be tracked, they will either have to update their tracking practices or potentially be rejected by the App Store.

Apple believes privacy features like these are a differentiator for its products. Cook said that because the company’s business model is not built on selling ads, he can focus on confidentiality.

Even so, it’s important to keep in mind that when you ask apps not to follow you, you’re essentially just banning app developers from accessing the Advertiser’s Identifier (IDFA) on your iPhone. Developers use your device’s IDFA to track you for targeted advertising purposes. Denying access to your iPhone’s IDFA doesn’t necessarily mean that app developers won’t follow you in other ways, so paying attention to what apps you use and how you interact are essential. with them.

For more information, see browser privacy settings that you must change immediately, and CNET’s choices for the best VPNs of 2021.